TBPN Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: The Death of the Tech Conference, Jake Paul Joins, Dimon Launches Deregulation Blitz
Hosts: John Coogan & Jordi Hays
Guests: Jake Paul & Geoffrey Woo, Matt Pavelle, David Senra & Lulu Cheng, Casey Newton, Alex Epstein, Jamie Siminoff
Date: January 6, 2026

Overview

This episode of TBPN dives into the changing landscape of tech conferences (“the death of the tech conference”), the growing convergence of AI and daily life, and the shifting norms of tech communications and capital. The show features a star-studded lineup including creators, founders, journalists, and thinkers who discuss everything from CES launches and AI in healthcare to Jamie Dimon’s banking windfall, the OpenAI/Pinterest rumors, the need for new narratives in tech, and the cyclical nature of "rage bait" marketing online.

Main Themes & Purposes

• Tech Conference Shifts: Why the traditional multi-company mega-conference model (CES, Macworld) is dying in favor of brand-owned, ‘direct’ launch events.
• Product Launches @ CES: Notable launches and the rise (and comedic fall) of celebrity product unveilings.
• Beyond AI Buzz: The reality, opportunity, and communications problem in AI, especially in the context of labor and economic inequality.
• The New Communication Paradigm: How founders, VCs, and companies are reinventing brand, narrative, and authenticity—and why “rage bait” may be over.
• Tech’s Political Economy: Jamie Dimon’s big payday, deregulation, and a deep dive on the shifting capital landscape.
• AI in Real Life: Case studies in healthcare (Doctronic), home security (Ring), and VC/creator integration (Jake Paul & Anti Fund).
• Cultural/Philosophical Underpinnings: Wealth, happiness, and the paradox of abundance in a high-tech world.

Key Segments and Insights

1. The Death of the Tech Conference

[00:40 – 16:05]

• CES started in 1967, launching everything from VCRs to Xbox, but its moment as the place for culture-defining launches is over. Modern launches (iPhone, Meta Ray Bans, etc.) happen at single-brand events with total message control.

• Steve Jobs famously snubbed CES for Macworld in 2007, debuting the iPhone to reframe the conversation outside of "spec wars."

  Quote:

  "Everyone's followed Jobs' playbook ... I don't expect key tech moments to happen at independent trade shows anymore."
  — John [15:02]

• CES is still massive for B2B, suppliers, and industry insiders, but for consumers, its relevance has faded.

2. CES Launches & the Spectacle Decline

[04:16, 18:24, 129:25]

• Hosts reflect on how “celebrity cameo” launches—like Bill Gates and The Rock with Xbox—were once the peak of showmanship, but now cinematic launch videos and podcasts have taken over.
• This year’s CES highlights: Nvidia’s Vera Rubin chip, autonomous Mercedes collaborations, Dell’s massive monitors, LEGO’s Smart Brick (integrating AI and play), Boston Dynamics' new humanoid robots, Ring’s new AI-powered smart home tech.
• Jamie Siminoff (Ring) joins live from CES to share how product/feature launch is now both cloud-first and AI-centric:

  "With AI at the edge, it decays like fish on a hot day. The cloud is the only place to keep the best features live."
  — Jamie [134:12]

3. The Jamie Dimon Moment & Deregulation

[23:26 – 27:23]

• Jamie Dimon’s $770M+ haul exemplifies a new (or revived) gilded age for bankers, courtesy of deregulation, M&A surges, and financial market booms.
• The Trump administration’s regulatory rollback is letting banks lend (and risk) more freely.

4. OpenAI/Pinterest & the Platform/Audience Shift

[67:03 – 69:50]

• Rumor mill: Will OpenAI acquire Pinterest?
• Hosts are skeptical (“What strategic asset are they actually buying?”) and joke about nominative determinism—CEO Bill Ready may just be “ready” to do a deal.

5. Comms, Narrative, and the End of Rage Bait

[186:09+]

• Lulu Cheng and David Senra join for a meta-discussion on the state of tech narrative and founder comms.

• This year’s “narrative alpha”: building enduring things with substance and beauty, versus playing internet clout games.

• There’s fatigue over AI buzzwords and cinematic launches:

  "If everyone has a cinematic launch video, no one does."
  — Jordi [188:08] "You want to build the thing that is an enduring artifact of human ingenuity."
  — Lulu [216:41]

• A call for more authenticity, localized/targeted comms, qualitative over quantitative engagement, and building for the long run (anti-ephemeralism).

6. AI's Real World Impact: Healthcare and Law

[169:25+]

• Matt Pavelle (Doctronic) explains licensing their AI doctor to renew prescriptions in Utah—a landmark regulatory breakthrough.
• The AI doctor lets patients get rapid diagnosis and treatment at scale, revealing huge, often overlooked benefits:

  "20% of ChatGPT traffic is health-related. With Doctronic, people come for real medical advice, not just sleep tips."
  — Matt [175:20]

7. Anti Fund: Jake Paul, Geoffrey Woo & Next-Gen VC

[151:15+]

• Jake Paul explains the logic behind their “Anti Fund” VC thesis: move fast, be founder-first, and weaponize social distribution.
• Barbell strategy: invest very early in technical founders or very late in large, generational companies—skip the slow, middling stuff.
• Jake's advice for creators:

  "Authenticity is everything. You have to show your whole life and just keep posting. At the end of the day, people will come back because they feel something."
  — Jake Paul [156:07, 159:22]

8. Philosophical Threads: Wealth, Relative Happiness, and AI’s Future

[41:45 – 61:54, multiple]

• Deep dive on AI’s impact on wealth inequality, referencing recent essays and debates (Piketty, Ben Thompson, etc.).
• The “Galaxies Problem”: In a world of abundance, will relative comparisons always make us unhappy?
• Classic Louis CK clip:

  "Everything is amazing right now and nobody’s happy ... People take technology for granted."
  [46:42]

• AI is now taken for granted—like water to fish—and communications must go beyond just saying “we’re AI-powered.”

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

Tech Conference Death, Showmanship, and Launches

• “Bill Gates gets on stage with The Rock to launch the Xbox... showmanship is a forgotten art.”
  — Jordi [05:24]
• "At CES, journalists obsess over spec sheets—Jobs wanted to be category-defining, to control the narrative." — John [11:14]

Messaging & Wealth

• "What we care about is not how much we have, but how we compare. Social media has expanded our comparison set, making us feel more immiserated..."
  — Ben Thompson, summarized by John [61:41]
• "It’s possible we cure disease and poverty and people will still long for the good old days when they had the thrill of fending for themselves before guaranteed income and housing ruined it."
  — Boaz Barak (OpenAI), summarized [62:03]

Comms, Narrative, and Endurance

• "This year, narrative alpha comes from doing real things that are enduring… not cinematic launch videos.”
  — Lulu Cheng [187:30]
• "You want to build the thing that's an enduring artifact of human ingenuity.”
  — Lulu [216:41]
• "The only way to break through white noise is with one normal volume or quieter note, sustained for a long period of time."
  — Lulu [217:12]

AI in Healthcare

• “With Doctronic, people are talking to doctors two, three, four times as often as in real life. With the state of Utah, the AI is now legally renewing prescriptions—no human in the loop.”
  — Matt [173:28, 175:55]

Founders, VC, and Authenticity

• “If you want a creative brand, celebrity distribution is an asset, but you still have to have founder-market fit.”— Geoffrey Woo [164:11]
• “Authenticity is everything... invoke emotion, make them feel something, and don't care about haters. That's the key.”
  — Jake Paul [156:07, 159:22]
• "Everything I do is a flywheel. Boxing fuels the rest—the content, the businesses, the attention. You need a great team to keep it going." — Jake Paul [161:42]
• "You have to check if you’re actually working as hard as you think." — Jake Paul [162:55]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:40 – 16:05]: Death of the Tech Conference, CES history, launch moments
• [16:05 – 22:15]: CES launches, LEGO’s Smart Brick, Boston Dynamics, Samsung
• [23:26 – 27:23]: Jamie Dimon's payday, banking deregulation
• [51:55 – 62:03]: AI’s impact on daily life (LLMs for parenting), abundance paradox clip
• [67:03 – 69:50]: OpenAI/Pinterest rumors
• [129:25 – 150:55]: Interview w/ Jamie Siminoff (Ring), product evolution, AI at the edge
• [151:15 – 168:50]: Anti Fund (Jake Paul, Geoffrey Woo): VC, content flywheels, authenticity
• [169:25 – 183:41]: Matt Pavelle (Doctronic), AI in healthcare, regulatory revolution
• [186:09 – 228:49]: Lulu Cheng & David Senra on comms, narrative, authenticity, community
• [183:41 – end]: Wrap up; overall episode conclusions

Memorable Moments

• The Xbox with The Rock (video analyzed and discussed as a paradigmatic tech launch) [05:24 – 07:43]
• Hosts laughing about cinematic launch video costs and how "everyone's doing it, so no one stands out" [188:08]
• Louis CK “Everything is amazing right now and nobody’s happy” comedy bit—used to frame abundance and dissatisfaction [46:42]
• Doctronic getting AI licensed to practice medicine before lawyers ("first licensed AI doctor...that’s wild. In five years, this will be historic") [183:39]
• Jake Paul’s VC/creator advice and tales of “rage bait” as an intentional, durable content strategy [159:22]

Takeaways for Listeners

• The legacy tech conference format is being supplanted by founder/brand-controlled narratives.
• AI is moving from buzzword to essential utility—useful but communications have to change.
• Tech companies must focus on enduring value and differentiated beauty as “comms alpha” instead of short-lived clout.
• Financial deregulation is creating a new golden era for banks (and bank CEOs), but public perception remains ambivalent.
• AI is already changing healthcare at scale, with landmark regulatory victories.
• The best creators (like Jake Paul) relentlessly pursue authenticity, emotional connection, and embrace the flywheel of content.
• Founders benefit by being deeply true to their own style—embrace the archetype that fits, whether that’s Palmer Luckey, Toby Lutke, or otherwise.

Final Word

“Build things that endure, cut through the noise with substance and beauty, not just spectacle. The game has changed—again.”